Activation, Section I
is the first chapter of the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga. Plot The asteroid Luna II orbits the Earth and its Moon. With the Sun in the distance, six Zaku II suits approach Side 7 and its lone colony of Noa. Four of which belong to Denim, Slender, Gene and Ash. The six Zakus descend upon the outside of Noa around an entrance. As Slender's Zaku descends, he aims his machine gun at the lock beside a handle. His Zaku kneels down and he turns it, opening the door. The Zakus enter into the part of the colony still under construction. Gene tells Master Sergeant Denim that there's a siren going off. To calm the others down, a pilot informs them that it's on the other side of the barrier, caused by a ship that just docked at the bay. A pilot asks if Denim thinks it's the "Trojan Horse" and Denim replies that's likely. Said "Trojan Horse", the ''White Base'', enters the main gate underneath two berths. It slows down its engines and is now inside the colony. Officers are ordered to close the main gate as their mustached superior arrives. He cannot believe something so unwieldy could escape the Earth's gravitational field. On the ship, Lieutenant Junior Grade Bright Noa enters the room of Dr. Tem Ray to inform him that they've made port at Side 7 and to pass on the request to meet their captain's on the bridge. Dr. Ray asks Bright if he's been on supply duty long, Bright says no as he used to be on the front. As Dr. Ray says that their ship has a crucial mission being at the front, Bright notices a photo of Dr. Ray's son Amuro Ray. Dr. Ray says that his 15-year-old son is still a child compared to a smart young man like Bright and remembered news he heard that children as young as 15 were being drafted. When Bright affirms this fact, Tem Ray responds that it is terrible but states that once they start mass-producing the Gundam, the war would be over, and they could put an end to it without wasting young lives. Dr. Ray and Bright enter the bridge Doors open and the Zakus come to a dark area of Noa's construction block. Denim observes the area is pressurized with optimal oxygen concentration. They are 5 km away from the barrier with the completed part of Noa. Sensors are all over the place and the Zaku pilots are told not the trip them. Denim orders Slender to stay behind and should the mission takes a bad turn, he should make a run for it and put a mayday out to Lt. Commander Char on the ship. Gene is ordered to follow Denim whereas Ash's Squad, consisting of himself and his two subordinates, are ordered to scout on the left. Gene asks if they should destroy "the thing" if they come across it. Denim asserts that their mission is recon only as Char only wants information not action. Denim and Gene's Zakus jump down. Denim, seeing that the area has ricochet-proof walls and an observation tower, scoffs at how the colony peacefully presents itself by designating the area as a construction block. A flash of light shines and Gene heads off, spotting an old-model mobile suit, a Guncannon. He says it looks like it was destroyed by a heat-ray weapon and is ordered by Denim to get some photos of the impact plane. Looking elsewhere, Denim also sees a mobile suit he thinks is codenamed "Guntank". Seeing the damage, the pilots suspect it was used as mock target, comparing their discovery to a graveyard for old mobile suits. The Guntanks appeared to have their cannons sheared off by an intense heat ray, and according to Gene, Zeon do not possess beam rifles that strong. Ash sights an enemy and his Zaku is immediately shot at. Denim and Gene rush to assist Ash whose hyper-rifle fails to damage the bogey; a silhouetted figure in a smoke. Approaching the three Zakus, it reveals itself to be the Federation Forces' new mobile suit, the RX-78-01 Prototype Gundam. Stats Release Dates *Gundam Ace August 2001 Issue: June 25, 2001 *Kadokawa Tankōbon: May 29, 2002ISBN 978-4-04-713453-9 *Viz Media: April 28, 2002 ISBN 978-1-59-116020-5 *Kadokawa Aizōban: May 23, 2005ISBN 4-04-853809-8-C0979 *Vertical Inc. : March 26, 2013ISBN 978-1-93-565487-2 *Comic Walker: March 22, 2014 Comic WalkerKadokawa's 'ComicWalker' App Will Offer Manga in English - News - Anime News Network Characters Mechanic Quotes Notes & Trivia *This is the start of the arc corresponding to the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Rising. *Hayato Kobayashi is introduced on a white motorcycle as opposed to an orange two-seater car with an unnamed background character. References